The present invention is related to a connecting circuit for lamp modules for various sorts of lamps for illuminating, for example, the interiors of vehicles. Particularly, the present invention is related to a connecting circuit capable of canceling the cooperative illumination function.
Nowadays, a vehicle is provided with a map lamp on a front area of an interior ceiling thereof, a dome lamp at a center area of the interior ceiling, and a rear reading lamp on a rear area of the interior ceiling. The map lamp is used in such a case that a driver of the vehicle reads maps. The dome lamp is used when the entire interior is illuminated. The rear reading lamp is used in a case that a passenger of a rear seat reads magazines.
The respective lamps, more specifically, map lamps installed on the side of driver's seat emits light so as to notify such a condition that a door of the vehicle is opened and/or is not completely closed. In other words, the courtesy lamp of the door and the map lamp emit light in a cooperating manner.
However, when the map lamp emits light every time the door is opened/closed, some car drivers may have bother feelings. Under such a circumstance, a cancel switch is provided with a map lamp. In the case that this cancel switch is activated, this map lamp and a courtesy lamp are placed in a non-cooperating mode, so that the map lamp does not emit light every time a door is opened/closed. That is, this map lamp is used only for the purpose of the map lamp.
FIG. 5 shows a connecting circuit provided with such a configuration.
A junction box 41 is connected to a power supply circuit (indicated by symbol “B”) connected with a battery, a signal circuit 47 connected with a courtesy lamp, and a grounding circuit (indicated by symbol “G”) 48 connected with a ground. The signal circuit 47 is indicated by symbol “CTY”, and will be referred to as a “courtesy circuit” or “notification signal circuit” hereinafter. The respective circuits 46 to 48 are connected via a junction connector 42 to a map lamp 43, a dome lamp 44, and a rear reading lamp 45 in a branching connection manner.
Two light emitters 49 are series-connected in the map lamp 43, a cancel switch 50 is arranged between the two light emitters 49, and this cancel switch 50 is slidable in the right/left directions in this figure so as to activate or deactivate a courtesy circuit 52. By sliding the switch 54 in the right side of this figure, the light emitter 49 is connected to the courtesy circuit 52 to validate the condition of the courtesy circuit 52. By sliding the switch 54 to the left side in this figure, the light emitter 49 is turned on irrespective of the condition of the switch 50 (the courtesy circuit 52).
In the dome lamp 44, one end of a light emitter 55 is connected to a power supply circuit 56, and the other end of the light emitter 55 is selectably connected to a courtesy circuit 57 or a grounding circuit 58 via a switch 59. By sliding the switch 59 in the right side of this figure, the light emitter 55 is connected to the courtesy circuit 57 to validate the condition of the courtesy circuit 52. By sliding the switch 59 to the left side in this figure, the light emitter 55 is turned on irrespective of the condition of the switch 50 (the courtesy circuit 52).
In the rear reading lamp 45, one end of a light emitter 60 is connected to a power supply circuit 61, and the other end of the light emitter 60 is selectably connected to a courtesy circuit 62 or a grounding circuit 63 via a switch 64. By sliding the switch 64 in the right side of this figure, the light emitter 60 is connected to the courtesy circuit 62 to validate the condition of the courtesy circuit 52. By sliding the switch 64 to the left side in this figure, the light emitter 60 is turned on irrespective of the condition of the switch 50 (the courtesy circuit 52).
As explained above, the cooperations between the respective lamps 43 to 45 and the respective courtesy circuits 52, 57, 62 can be canceled. The map lamp 43, the dome lamp 44, and the rear reading lamps 45 are constructed as lamp modules, respectively.
However, in the above configuration, since the circuits derived from the junction box 41 are wired via the junction connector 42 to the respective lamp modules 43 to 45, the following problems occur. That is, the circuit construction becomes huge and complex, is manufactured in high cost, and also, requires a large number of steps when these circuits are distributed to vehicles. Furthermore, a large number of circuit distribution spaces are required.